Studebaker Hawk GT Reviews from North America

1962 Studebaker Hawk GT 289 CI

Summary:

Faults:

General Comments:

This 1962 Hawk GT is a beauty, I bought it for my 15 year old son, but I think we will be fighting to see who gets the keys.

The horse power that the Studebaker 289 produces is just awesome. The handling since we replaced the shocks is great, holds the road almost as well as my 03 Corvette, she sticks to the road like glue.

The only problem I find with this model is it has the 3 speed transmission mounted on the column. I would love to convert it to the floor, but my son would hit me over the head with a ball peen hammer.

This car has been lots of fun to bring back, and we are having a great time showing off our Hawk.

1962 Studebaker Hawk GT GT 289

Summary:

Faults:

The vehicle was hardly driven for the last 10 years, so a few problems arose as it became a daily driver, prior to its upcoming complete restoration.

The exhaust manifold gaskets blew out. However, repair was simple and easy, and the gaskets cost only $27.

The header-to-exhaust donut gaskets blew out. However, they were repaired with the new-type flared system, and no problems have arisen since.

The car has a very poor turning radius, and is a challenge to U-turn in tight lanes.

General Comments:

I totally agree with a previous review of these cars. They are very underrated.

I have been doing vehicle restorations since 1970, including the 1957 Ford T-Bird, 1956 Ford Victoria, and many more classics than can be listed here.

This was my first Studebaker, for restoration. I got it because I always loved the body design. The car has a factory 4-speed, and when compared to the '57 T Birds, the Studebaker has much better handling and power.

I was able to pick up this solid Hawk for what I would call a pittance, compared to anything I have restored so far. Now, after many hours of delighted driving, I am more amazed than ever at how unbelievably low the resale value is on these awesomely designed vehicles, although they are going up in value consistently.

The only problem with my Hawk is that I cannot get out of a parking lot without at least one person wanting to talk for hours about the car!

With the factory 4-speed, it is like driving a sports car, and the power that the little 289CI develops is far superior to the 312CI T-Bird engine.

I would just like to drive a factory-supercharged version of the Hawk someday. Of all the classic vehicles I have owned, this one is a keeper for the duration.

14th May 2008, 20:41

I have owned 4 Studebaker Hawks - including 1 - 1962 Gran Turismo and a 1956 Golden Hawk. Both of these were truly memorable and vastly underrated. The little 289 V8 was capable of awesome power without a supercharger. A supercharger made the performance explosive.

The GT was a surprisingly real road holder for its time, and would do 120mph with a four barrel carb. Its brakes were great also.

Acceleration in the Golden Hawk with its huge torque loaded V8 was astounding, but handling was a bit less accomplished.

I did get a ride in a 57 Golden Hawk with a supercharged 289, and I recall that it was even quicker than the 352 Packard V8. Let me just say that that big Packard v8 was locomotive like, and torque was never lacking even doing triple digit speed. I was a crazy kid and did road test my cars.

1962 Studebaker Hawk GT 256 ci OHV V8

Summary:

Great styling and pretty good handling - deserved to have been more successful

Faults:

Not really applicable as the car was a restoration project. See general comments below.

General Comments:

While living in Manitoba from 77-79 I decided to restore a car for a hobby. I contacted the president of the local Studebaker club who took me out to a field littered with various vintages of Studes. I settled on a 62 Hawk GT that had been sinking into the earth for about 3 years and handed over $300. Incredibly, the engine fired up with a jump start and some gas poured down the carb! While towing it back to Winnipeg a front tire blew and they decided to tow it with the back wheels on the ground. This may have damaged the auto trans. Then again, this may have been a problem before the car was put in the field.

After restoring the car enough to be able to drive it (bodywork, repaint, re-chroming, some upholstery, radial tires, shocks brakes, and dual exhaust) I started to drive it on a limited basis. The transmission would slip badly, but topping up with fluid would rectify the problem temporarily.

The car was very impressive visually and I could never understand why you could pick up a restored one for way less than a 50s vintage T-bird at the time. I never had the engine professionally tuned or rebuilt so acceleration was only adequate. I can't say whether this was normal or below specification. However, top speed seemed OK and I pegged 115 mph on the speedo once. This was indicated mph so it could have been off in actuality. The car handled very well and you could get through corners reasonably fast. The downside was in city corners... the steering was power assist, using a hydraulic ram to assist the steering arm. Unfortunately, the steering box ratio was the same as if the car had unassisted steering; thus, the number of turns lock to lock was a lot and you couldn't wind the wheel around fast enough for quick cornering in town.

I only drove the car periodically for one summer, and aside from the transmission problems that I couldn't afford to fix properly, the only thing that went wrong was a leaking carb float. I sold it for a break-even price before moving to the coast.

In summary, I always thought the Hawks were nice looking cars that never realized their full potential. Really, these should have outsold the first generation Mustang, but by the mid 60s the dice were stacked against Studebaker.

4th Oct 2004, 19:37

I agree entirely about the Hawk, it was easily the hottest looking car of it's era--I owned a 65 Mustang and it couldn't hold a candle to the Stude-The other competitors included 64 GTO and Malibu, very bland vehicles by comparison.

7th Oct 2004, 13:23

The Hawk was the "hottest looking car of it's era"?

You might be able to make that claim for the 1953-54 coupes that the Hawk was eventually based on, but by 1962 the Hawk had too many late 50's styling cliches (although they did shave off the tailfins). A nice looking car nonetheless, even with the imitation-Mercedes grille.